Leni Robredo disqualified from the VP post due to LP non-compliance to COMELEC policy!

It cost “vice president-elect” Leni Robredo at least three times the amount of money to attract each Filipino to vote for her as it did Bongbong Marcos in this year’s elections. According to their respective Statement of Contributions and Expenditures (SOCEs), Robredo’s campaign for the vice presidency of the Philippines cost her 418 million pesos while Marcos’s campaign, cost 140 million pesos.

Consider that (1) both candidates, if we are to believe the official results of the count, finished the race in a statistical tie and (2) allegations of cheating point to the possibility that Liberal Party candidates have cheated their rivals out of millions of potential votes. This means that the yield on financiers’ investment in Bongbong Marcos’s campaign was three times that of those who invested in Robredo.

In short, for a whopping 418 million pesos, Robredo’s investors got no more than a dubious “win” over Marcos and a raft of sticky cheating allegations that could bury the Vice Presidency in controversy over the next six years. Add to that the fact that President-Elect Rodrigo Duterte sees no use for nor offers any useful function to Robredo. Robredo is essentially a bomb of an investment. That’s 418 million pesos down the political tubes. The only people and businesses who actually benefited from that windfall of cash injected into the Philippine economy were media outlets who soaked up the ad revenue and voters who seemingly received “envelopes” in exchange for the small trouble of coming to a rally dressed in a yellow shirt.

Those are just some factoids that are nice to know — that the LP used a bulldozer to putt a golf ball into the hole.

(The above was a metaphor, by the way.)

But here’s where it gets really interesting. To top it off, Robredo’s running mate and Liberal Party presidential candidate Mar Roxas as well as the Liberal Party itself failed to meet the deadline imposed by the Commission on Election (COMELEC) on the submission of the SOCE. Section 14 of Republic Act 7166 stipulates that this is grounds for barring any winning candidates nominated by the LP from holding office…

Sec. 14. Statement of Contributions and Expenditures; Effect of Failure to File Statement. – Every candidate and treasurer of the political party shall, within thirty (30) days after the day of the election, file in duplicate with the offices of the Commission the full, true and itemized statement of all contributions and expenditures in connection with the election.

No person elected to any public offices shall enter upon the duties of his office until he has filed the statement of contributions and expenditures herein required.

The same prohibition shall apply if the political party which nominated the winning candidate fails to file the statement required herein within the period prescribed by this Act.

Roxas and the LP had, last Wednesday, the 8th of June, reportedly requested an extension of the deadline citing “voluminous number of receipts that have to be scanned and attached” as their excuse.

Tough luck.

Section 2 of Rule 10 issued by the COMELEC applicable for these 2016 elections states that there is absolutely no provision to allow an extension of the 8th of June deadline for filing the SOCE for any reason whatsoever…

The 08 June 2016 deadline shall be final and non-extendible. Submissions beyond this period shall not be accepted. COMELEC Resolutions Nos. 9849 and 9873, Minute Resolutions Nos. 13-0775 and 13-0823 are hereby repealed, insofar as they allowed the belated submission, amendmentand/or correction of campaign finance disclosure statements and reports and the imposition of late penalties for the 2013 National and Local Elections.

Because of Roxas and the LP, it seems that Robredo is now deemed unqualified to be Vice President of the Philippines because:

(1) Roxas and the LP failed to meet a non-negotiable requirement;

(2) The deadline for this requirement is non-extendable; and,

(3) Any submission beyond this non-extendable deadline will not be accepted.

Thus the rule “No person elected to any public offices shall enter upon the duties of his office until he has filed the statement of contributions and expenditures herein required” makes it quite clear:

Leni Robredo is DISQUALIFIED from the Vice Presidency of the Philippines

Not only that. Remember when COMELEC imposed their house rules on the actual election date?

When some I-will-not-name celebrities breached this rules, they instead, twisted their own rules and suddenly, provisions that can salvage these celebrities popped out. So TRO is the last ditch scenario I am seeing as COMELEC themselves have a very bad habit of twisting their own ruling.

You’re a marcos fan alright so don’t make it appear that even non-marcos fans believe his hallucinations about being cheated even though they have not submitted a single proof until now & marcos dummies like you readily swallowed his paranoid inanities.

I despise the yellow color!!! Aquino is a big fraud and not a hero at all. The truth why he was assassinated because of conspiracy theories… Stupid of the Aquinos. And for leni Robredo,, I’m glad that she’s out of the picture because no one can stand a two faced hypocrite, fraud and cheating bitch as vp of the country.

don’t worry the Marcos camp WILL file a complaint and WILL present evidence. YES, there actually are evidences contrary to what you believe. only thing is ‘less your eyes are open you will not know that it is there.

While you’re an aquino troll who is still desperate to attack us because your retarded pwesident is on the line for being jailed by duterte. And what proof do you want yellowturd? From what only your beloved yellow journalism feeds you?

Arnie, Since your so-called “Marcos Cult” is gone, guess who’s raping your country now and compelling your countrymen to go overseas as OFWs, and whose remittance money they use to enrich themselves and turn your country into a feudal society? It’s none other than your beloved Yellow Party and “Chekwa” businesses, that have completely monopolized the economy by destroying all the Fliptard-owned businesses, compelled your own countrymen to search for opportunities overseas as OFWs. Those Fliptards who cannot afford to become OFWs are committing social injustices against each other just to survive and keep up with the growing cost of… Read more »

i wonder how comelec will runaround this time.
and if mainstream media picks this up, i’ll have my popcorn ready. best guess is that they will hush this down and sensationalize another celebrity and/or tragedy.

So what was Roxas doing all this time? What’s his lame excuse for not delivering on his responsibilities this time? http://manila.coconuts.co/2016/05/14/cooling-down-mar-roxas-camping-baguio-celebrate-his-59th-birthday Korina looks so tame and humble there 🙂 Forget all the political correctness gratitude talk Mar’s saying in the video. Mar’s real message to fellow LP’s: “Haha I was too busy sulking in defeat and enjoying my great escape from reality that I forgot all about you guys. Well, I guess it makes it feel 1 degree C less hot in hell knowing I dragged all of you down here with me! Please let me have the last laugh.… Read more »

Not Roxas; rather, the entire slate of LP candidates get the boot when the LP itself wasn’t able to submit their entire party’s SOCE by the imposed deadline. Basically, if only the candidate wasn’t able to submit, he/she alone won’t be able to take office. If their political party was the one who failed to submit the entire party’s own SOCE, no one from that party gets to sit on their post, even if the candidates themselves managed to submit on time.

Yes, the law is very clear on this matter. Failing to meet a non-negotiable requirement and deadline, including the non-acceptance of any submission after the deadline is simply unacceptable.

If they violate this law again, they may be barred permanently from running for pubic office.

If the members of the LP, their management and staff, cannot process a Statement of Contributions and Expenditures (SOCEs), it becomes all the more understandable why they did very little during their administration.

LP’s message to all Filipinos: “As you already know, we are incompetent fools. We can’t even meet a simple deadline to submit receipts. Please give us another chance. We promise (pasagasa pa kami sa tren) that we will NEVER AGAIN let you (our bosses) down.” COMELEC’s message to Filipinos: “Please forget about this…” On May 21, 2013, Comelec ordered Ejercito to step down after finding that he exceeded the campaign expenses allowed by law. He went to the SC to seek a reversal of the Comelec ruling. http://www.rappler.com/nation/84184-sc-final-ruling-ejercito-disqualified-laguna-governor “I know we were hard on some candidates in the past, but… Read more »

There is simply no legitimacy in Failippine politics. NONE. So “Fuck” the Failippines, its government, and its people; and “Fuck” me to for being a Fliptard. I’m so “Fucked [not Proud] to Be a Fliptard.” Every Fliptard should be, too.

Teachers and Professors usually emphasize to students when it’s a HARD DEADLINE. So this is Comelec’s idea of NON-EXTENDABLE… Roxas was the lone presidential candidate who failed to submit his SOCE on Wednesday, even when the Comelec’s campaign finance office (CFO) gave an hour and a half more for last-minute filers, extending the deadline from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/569345/news/nation/comelec-to-discuss-lp-roxas-request-for-extension-to-file-soce#sthash.Gd7qaOUq.dpuf What makes you think they won’t extend it to 3:45 hours, 12 hours, 2 days, or half a month? It’s a bad precedent guys. I think I know where this road leads to. It’s like killing a baby in… Read more »

@jezreel, good point, but I’ll stick to this provision that I quoted. In election theory, in a multi-party election and the one with the most votes is disqualified, the second placer does not take his/her place. The logic is that the 2nd place isn’t the “choice” of the people and that those who voted for the winner may have voted for candidates other than the second-placer had the winner been disqualified from the start. To allow the second placer to occupy the post is as much a travesty if the democratic process as LP’s cheating. This is why the decision… Read more »

In my opinion since non-compliance of SOCES as a Comelec policy is not complied by LP Leni Robredo will be disqualified for VP and since she is not yet sworn in office the next VP candidate will take her place. Art VII, Sec 9 of the 1987 Constitution applies only for vacancy (this means that the VP is already sworn in on the position) but in this case it is disqualification so other VP candidate can assume the position.

“Section 9. Whenever there is a vacancy in the Office of the Vice-President during the term for which he was elected, the President shall nominate a Vice-President from among the Members of the Senate and the House of Representatives who shall assume office upon confirmation by a majority vote of all the Members of both Houses of the Congress, voting separately.”

SECTION 9. Whenever there is a vacancy in the Office of the Vice-President during the term for which he was elected, the President shall nominate a Vice-President from among the Members of the Senate and the House of Representatives who shall assume office upon confirmation by a majority vote of all the Members of both Houses of the Congress, voting separately.